What did Daniel Pearl’s declaration of being Jewish really mean?

By Marissa Palin

SAN DIEGO–Daniel Pearl’s last words were “My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish.”  These words were spoken on a video filmed by his captors, a Pakistani militant group, stating their demands. Eight years and three days after Daniel’s death, on February 24, 2010,  Dr. Judea Pearl explained the meaning of his son’s final words at the UJF Women’s Division Options Event.

Daniel Pearl was a journalist for the Wall Street Journal. He spent his journalism career conveying the human faces behind the news, giving voices to victims of war in the Middle East, demanding sanity in the face of madness. Daniel Pearl wasn’t religious in the traditional sense of the word. For him, Judaism was the language of his history, a connection to his ancestors. Judaism gave him a historical identity.

Pearl was kidnapped in 2002 by a Pakistani militant group, on his way to an interview. The group claimed they believed he was a CIA agent, and used his kidnapping to set certain demands on the US, including the release of other Pakistani terrorists. Nine days later, he was beheaded. A month after his capture, the group released a video of Pearl, in which he introduces himself and states his final words.

So what did he mean with his last words? According to Dr. Pearl, it was his way of connecting to his enemy. By identifying himself as Jewish, he was putting himself on equal terms. He was saying that he understood suffering, he understood injustice. He was reminding him of the challenge of understanding others, and saying he knew what it meant to be different. He was offering friendship, and open-mindedness, assuring them that he was not their enemy.

His captors miscalculated when they killed him anyways and released the video. What they didn’t realize, was that Daniel’s last words symbolized the right of every individual to assert their ideology. By killing him, they used his last words to demonstrate that their terrorism isn’t against a country, or a person, it’s against an ideology. An ideology they’re afraid of because it’s different than their own.

“Many ask us if we seek revenge. Yes, we do,” said Dr. Pearl. “Hatred killed our son. And hatred we will fight for the rest of our lives with vengeance and tenacity.” 

 “Show me one celebrity dedicated to fighting the culture of terror, the tsunami of hate.” He said. He and his wife, Ruth, have dedicated their lives to addressing hatred. He co-founded the Daniel Pearl Foundation in April 2002, “to continue Daniel’s life-work of dialogue, and understanding and to address the root causes of his tragedy.” The foundation sponsors journalism fellowships aimed at promoting honest reporting and East-West understanding, organizes worldwide concerts that promote inter-cultural respect, and sponsors public dialogues between Jews and Muslims to explore common ground and air grievances.

He and his wife are co-editors of the book I am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl, winner of the 2004 National Jewish Book Award for Anthologies, which provides a panoramic view of how Jews define themselves in the post 9/11 era.

So how does he say we can help? For starters, we can invest in journalism, and music. Daniel Pearl was a violinist, who believed music could bring people together. We can invest and support cross cultural communication, and understanding. But the solution goes deeper than that. Battles are won by making your army stronger, and the enemy weaker. The battle against hate is no different. We must increase our support at home, especially among the Jewish people. We have a history of being the world’s largest exporter of hope, ideals and individuality, and we must continue to do so. Only when hope, love and tolerance outweigh hatred, will the battle be won.

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Palin is a freelance writer based in San Diego